Five times Bosco should have stepped up but didn't
by WIWJ
Summary: I'm taking an idea from a fan fiction writer that writes for West Wing and doing a little AU drabble. Five times when Bosco made the 'safe choice' and what might have happened if he didn't. Just for fun.


Five times Bosco should have stepped up and didn't.

**Fred's heart attack. **

He watched her scream, realizing in that moment he'd never really seen her loose control before. It both terrified and captivated him, drawing him to her like a magnet before stopping. He froze there, just for a second, until she wriggled from Proctor's grasp. That's when his feet started to move again, coming up behind her and encircling his arms around her waist.

Startled, she'd kicked him, her nails raking at the skin on his hands until he pressed his cheek against her ear and whispered her name. She fought half heartedly as he shushed her, nuzzling his forehead more firmly against her face until her body went slack.

"Let them work." He said softly, his body unconsciously rocking hers as he fought to keep them upright. "Let them work." Sully was behind him, moving them towards the small waiting area where he collapsed back into a chair, still holding her tightly in his arms. She'd turned into his shoulder then, angry tears giving way to frightened sobs.

"Bosco." The hoarse cry made his throat tighten as he grasped the back of her neck.

"I'm here." He said softly. "I'm right here."

* * *

**When Emily is coding in the ER at Mercy**

"Yeah, God.." Faith moans. "Why don't you go pray to him now!"

"What? Faith.." Fred mumbles helplessly, watching the back of his wife's head.

"Guys come on not here." Bosco reminds them, casting a glance back at Emily.

"Stay out of this." Fred yells, Faith pushes away from him.

"Emily." She pleads. " Fred why didn't you call me?"

"Faith I did-."

"No you didn't!" She yells.

"Faith." Bosco calls.

"Leave us alone!" Fred yells.

"No." He says suddenly. "All you're doing is upsetting her more. Back off."

Fred looks confused for a moment then angry.

"How could you let this happen?" Faith's anguished voice distracts Bosco for a moment.

"Faith.."

"Give her some space." Bosco yells, moving between them. "Worry about your daughter!"

"Shut the hell up Bo-." His voice halts when his wife calls out to her partner. The smaller man pushes him back before turning just in time to catch her as her legs give out.

"Bosco, how could I let this happen?" He leans her against the wall, before joining her on the floor.

"You didn't know." He tells her, as her head tilts onto his shoulder. "She's gonna be okay, Faith."

Fred watches for a second as his wife's partner laces their fingers together before thumping his head against the wall. He tries to think of something to say before giving up, his gaze rising to the room where his daughter lays dying.

"She's gonna be okay."

* * *

**After the first shooting**

"How's your mom?" Monroe's cheery tone makes Emily grimace. She catches Bosco's concern gaze in the rearview mirror and directs her answer at him.

"Pathetic."

"Hey!" He warns, his mouth twisting into a familiar scowl. It reminds her of her mom, making her grimace again.

"Bosco.." Monroe warns, they both ignore her, too locked on each other to even tell her to butt out.

"She's given up."

"Don't say anything like that ever again." He glares at her, loyalty etched into his every pore. "Your mom's a fighter."

"Yeah that really came out in her yesterday when Grandma was spoon feeding her!" She feels bad after she's said it. She see's the look of despair that passes through him. Again she thinks she's seen that expression on her mother's face a few times. She wonders if she was thinking about him.

He's silent until they pull up to the building. Her eyes never leave the rearview mirror, so she's looking when his flash up again.

"Is your dad at work?" He says determinedly, she tries not to smile.

"Until six." She tries not to look desperate. He looks at Monroe, then back at her.

"Stay in the car." He tells them both, swinging the door open and starting up the steps.

"Bosco!" Monroe calls uselessly.

"Thank God." Emily mutters, giving the other woman a dirty look when she turns to face her.

* * *

**Phantom Pain**

His heart stops when he hears Fred yell that his wife needs help. It takes a few seconds before it starts again. By that time he's already at her door, starring at her clenched fists and tightly clamped eyes through the window.

Fred's still hollering for anyone who'll listen when he finally takes a breath and the air rushes back into his burning lungs as he hurries into her room with out giving it a moments thought.

"Faith?" He whispers, moving his hands to her. Wiping the thin line of sweat from her forehead gently, he loosens her vice grip on the sheet beneath her to hold her hand.

Her eyes flash open, a look of confused fear spilling out of them. He thinks for a second she's going to yell at him to leave -and so does she, but the look on his face softens the sharpness of the pain shooting through her.

"Bosco." She breaths tearfully, her eyes shutting as he wipes her face again. "It hurts."

"I know." He tells her. "Fred went to get someone. I'll see if-."

"No." She yanks him back forcefully as he starts to the door. "Stay. Don't leave me again. Stay."

Her gaze pleads with a mixture of disappointment and need. Again, he realizes he's forgotten to breath as her eyes clamp shut again. It feels like his lungs are glued flat as he tries to re-inflate them this time.

"Okay." He says softly still trying to draw in a breath. "I'm staying." His hand moves slowly down her cheek to her neck sweeping gently over her shoulder before starting the long stroke over again. She calms beneath him, her grip relaxing as she does. "I'm staying."

Fred comes back in, shoulders squared and ready to yell before he see's his wife. Her body curled gently towards her partner her hand in his. Peaceful and still.

"Please?" She asks quietly, her eyes still closed. "Dont' leave me again."

"I won't leave again." He tells her, even as his eyes glare at Fred Yokas. "I promise. I won't leave you again."

* * *

**In the locker room before the precinct explodes.**

She doesn't answer his question, and he can't hardly stand to look at her anymore, so he doesn't. She watches him yank back the door and start into the hall.

"Bosco don't go." Her voice is soft and he wants to ignore it. He wants to so badly his body twitches forward instinctively. But he can't ignore her. He never could and it'll be what kills him in the end he's sure of it.

"Why not?" He exhales tiredly, out of fight.

"What do I need to say?" Her small voice pushes out the words. He knows she's about to cry and it makes his chest hurt even more. "I don't know how to make this right."

"Faith.." His sigh seems to be the last of his resolve leaving him as he turns back into the room and lets the door swing shut again.

"I can't go back and say that I'll shoot for you ." She shakes her head slowly. "Even if I could I wouldn't. I couldn't have lived with myself if something had happened to you out-."

"It's not about that." Bosco drops his head back, blinking at the ceiling as his lips part.

"Then what's it about?" She's defiantly crying now and now he's decided he's the biggest ass on the planet.

"You." He swallows hard. "Me."

"Us?" She offers creeping closer to him.

"Yeah. Us." He smiles sadly now, finally meeting her teary eyes. "We just can't seem to get it back can we?"

"Boz.." A remorseful tear slips down her cheek.

"I.. Everything you did for me and I'm standing there telling you off." He drops to the bench beside her. "All we been through and you go to Swertsky instead of coming to me. You went to the damn range owner instead of coming to me, Faith."

"I was scared." She breaths. "I was really scared Bosco."

"You could have just come to me!" He hates how pleading he sounds and the way she flinches at his raised voice.

"You were mad." She sounds so small.

"I'm always mad!" He can't stop yelling now. "But there you were out there throwing your Detective weight around instead of just coming to me and trusting your damn partner!"

"You're not my-!" Her voice is raised now too.

"I'm not your partner anymore." He intrupts before she can say the words. He doesn't want to hear them from her lips. "I know that." He looks into her eyes sorrowfully. "I know that Faith."

She gasps a jagged breath as the tears start to slip from her eyes again. He nods and starts back towards the door.

"Don't." She begs. "Don't do this to us. Not now. Not now, when there's nothing in our way anymore."

He turns slowly, taking in the sharp look in her eye. She's said it out loud and he doesn't quiet know what to do now.

"We're in our way." He says breathlessly. She drops her brave gaze to the floor and he reaches his hand out and takes hers. "You don't want me Faith." He shakes his head when she starts to protest. "You deserve so much better than me." The horrified expression that crosses her face makes him smile. "So much better."

"I don't want better." She answers finally. "I want you."

"Too much has happened."

"Exactly." She shakes her head. "Too much has happened for you to walk out that door now."

"I don't know.." His lips part again, the words seeming to slip out from between them.

"It's time for us both to step up, Bosco." She tightens her grip on his hand. "What ever happens can't be worse then never knowing."

"You sure about that?" He ran his index finger along her wrist as he spoke.

"When'd **you** stop _believing_ in **me**?" She asked softly, watching the words break through the haze around them, his lips twitching in mild amusement. "In us."

"Us." He exhaled, watching her nod slowly as he tugged her towards his chest, his eyes slipping shut as she closed her arms around him tightly.


End file.
